


Your Atlantis

by MakikoIgami



Series: Makoto's Atlantis [2]
Category: Free!
Genre: Angst, Awkward Sexual Situations, Coming of Age, Long-Distance Relationship, Loss of Virginity, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-14
Updated: 2014-01-17
Packaged: 2018-01-04 15:19:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1082586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MakikoIgami/pseuds/MakikoIgami
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Makoto is about to leave for university in Tokyo and there are a few things left unsaid (and undone) between him and Haruka. Thankfully there were rarely words needed between them so Haruka already knows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what happened. The one moment I had a brainfart of Makoto being a sucker for everything Atlantis-related and in the next I was writing this... monster which ended up as weird, virginal, fumbling porn between two teenagers who never had sex? I dunno. XD Either way, there will be more in the future, so look forward to it!

It was the last day of spring holidays, the night before Makoto would leave for Tokyo for good. Not these two day vacations that he had used during the break to take care of his enrollment into university or getting a small shared apartment in a student dormitory.

Tokyo, of all places. Tokyo, which was so far away that Haruka had no illusions that it would be New Year’s when he would see him again. He felt like his heart was going to be ripped out then. So bad was the pull, just a little bit before the tendons would rip. All because he knew there were so many things between them that they had never said, that nobody ever needed to say because they knew what the other was thinking, after all.

He knew what Makoto felt for him, that what he felt for his best friend was more than just friendship, had always been. And Haruka knew that his feelings were just the same, with all that they had gone through together. Remembering the state he was in when Rin had told him in frustration that he was going to stop swimming _because he had lost against him_ , he feared that he would fall into the same state when Makoto left in addition to everybody else.

Haruka, being as lazy as he was, did not want to leave Iwatobi, even if it meant ending up all alone because all of his friends were going to universities all over the place; Nagisa to one nearby, Rei and Makoto to different universities in Tokyo and Rin going back to Australia to push his competitive swimming career again. Granted, he'd still have Nagisa and Rei and Kou to hang out with for a year, but he'd still have to look for a job, which was such a hassle that he didn't even want to think about it.

Right now, though, there was only one thing that he could think about and that was Makoto kneeling stiffly in front of him, sitting on his bed, looking everywhere but his face, fidgety and nervous and Haruka could only think: 'Ah, so this is when he confesses properly.'

He waited until the awkward string of words left the tall young man's mouth, a stuttering confession that sounded more like a breakup, telling him how much he liked him, but he also knew that Haru was free, that he liked Rin very much and how he knew that Haru had had a crush on Aki-chan back in elementary school and how he hoped that he would find a good job that involved non-competing swimming because he knew that was exactly what Haru wanted. He also stressed over the fact that he would probably feel lonely in a big city like Tokyo without Haru or his family and everybody else, but that was okay because he knew that Haru would always swim free and the memories of the relays that they had swam together would always be in his heart.

Haruka's lips curled into a small smile at the awkward words, as they were so typically Makoto, always thinking about others first even if he tried to be selfish. Still, it seemed like it would always go the other's way, no matter how much he tried to make it seem otherwise.

For instance, Haruka knew about the box underneath Makoto's bed that was completely dedicated to books and movies about Atlantis. As long as Haruka had known his best friend, he had always been reading all these little more or less scientific books, articles and blogs about the mysterious city that had been swallowed by the sea and was the home to merpeople - or so he had understood it. From what he gathered, it had been depicted as some kind of Utopia by some ancient Greek guy named Plato or so and people suspected it was either in the Mediterranean or the Atlantic Ocean. Since it was thought to be practically on the other side of the planet, Haru didn't bother about it further, thinking that Makoto should just give up. It was too far away and there was nothing interesting about a legend, but then Makoto had showed him pictures of some submerged Asian temple, which was stunningly beautiful - mostly because it was in the water - and he was all, "I want to go there!"

At that, Makoto had chuckled and looked at him with a mixture of amusement and regret and told him flat out that it was impossible. Haruka looked at him stubbornly, realizing that he was giving in to his friend's dream, until Makoto surrendered with a raise of his eyebrows and a small exasperated chuckle, promising that they might consider it in the future, but for now, how about that pool in the next bigger city?

That placated Haruka long enough to forget about it and let the topic drop, but he always knew about Makoto's hobby in the back of his head, like it was his hobby as well; which it wasn't. He just wanted to swim.

"Makoto," He said, stopping another flurry of words along with his own thoughts.

The taller boy jumped and Haruka was a little irritated by that reaction, as well as being able to almost see his goose bumps through the layers of cloth. It was as if he had seen a ghost or something when all it had taken was Haruka addressing him calmly.

"Makoto," He said again, softer this time, trying not to startle his... friend, or whatever they were going to become in the future. He turned his head away in embarrassment over his own turmoil of feelings that threatened to overwhelm him as he saw the spark of hope, curiosity and impeding despair in the other's soft green eyes and continued. "Makoto, it's okay... if you want to kiss me or something."

"Eh, really?!" the taller man said, looking like that little boy who had once been a head smaller than Haruka, all the way back when they had been in kindergarten. A smile tugged at Haruka's lips then, making his usually impassive face a little softer and he saw a small blush creep onto Makoto's face.

"Yeah, really." he mumbled, looking away again in embarrassment. "Everything... is fine, if you want to do it..."

As he trailed off, still unable to look at Makoto's raised eyebrows and his sparkling green eyes, his face felt incredibly hot and he fought against the urge to take a cold bath to cool himself down, because he was sure that Makoto wanted to heat him up even more.

And sure enough, after a moment's hesitation, Haruka heard a rustling of clothes and a small wince, indicating that Makoto had stood up on wobbly legs, crossing the distance to sit down on his bed with a noticeable dip of the mattress before turning his head to confirm that Makoto was indeed sitting next to him, hands awkwardly on his own knees. He was sure the other wanted nothing more than to touch him, but he held back, trying to confirm what he had heard after all.

"T-Then, is it okay to touch you, Haru?" Makoto asked, his voice an awed whisper, as if the moment would disappear if he dared to talk any louder.

Haruka knew this voice. The last time he had heard it was when they watched a documentary on an American swimmer who could hold her breath for a really long time and modelled with a fake fish tail as a mermaid. Makoto's eyes were transfixed in awe and the admittedly pretty pictures that were taken of her, but he had also felt a little jealous then.

Now, he was glad that Makoto considered him to be just as awe-worthy as that fantasy of a mermaid.

"Yeah," He said quietly, forcing himself a little to let his embarrassment not hold him back and look into his tall friend's eyes.

"Really?" Makoto asked again, as if he couldn't believe it.

"I said it was okay, so just do it, okay?" Haruka replied, slightly irritated, but he didn't have to be as Makoto gently cupped his face with both of his hands that were so cold that the smaller boy shivered - or was it because of something else? - worried his lip for a second and then leaned in for a quick peck on his lips.

As he resurfaced and covered his mouth and his blush with his hand, Haruka wondered if this had really happened or if he had been imagining things. Makoto had sounded so confident before, so determined, and all of that ended up in a little peck on the lips? Hell, they had kissed deeper and longer as children!

"Makoto," Haruka said while the other was clearly trying to sort out what he had just done.

He received no answer.

"Makoto!" He repeated, with a little more force.

This time, he saw the other blink, but the taller one still didn't move, making him sigh and grumble, "what a pain," to himself before he gently removed his hand. "Makoto," He said again, looking straight into Makoto's eyes. "...Was this really all that you wanted to do?"

"Huh? ...eh? Ah, um..." Makoto replied, casting his eyes downward as his cheeks heated up again. "I... I wanted to hold Haru." He admitted, sending a jolt of something down Haruka's groin as his hand curled around the smaller one unconsciously. "I wanted to kiss and hold Haru for the whole night, because I won't be seeing Haru for a long time, so I wanted to make a lot of special memories..."

He trailed off, raising his eyes shyly to meet Haruka's dark red face.

"Wha~! I’m sorry, Haru-chan! I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay!" Haruka remembered to say quickly. He worried his lip, because he hadn't thought that when it came to the day that they would finally cross the line of friendship that Makoto would be a little more straightforward and not adorably cute, like a puppy that was chewing on cables. "It’s okay." He repeated, taking a deep breath, carefully laying out the words before him as he gently squeezed the other's hand in return. "It's... I want to... make those memories, too... with Makoto."

"Really, Haru-chan?" the taller boy asked, looking hopeful through his own blush.

"Y-yeah... I... um," He tried and then frowned because he couldn't find the right words, staring at their still connected hands. But then, deciding on a course of action, he looked up suddenly, determined and crossed the distance between them again, pressing his thin line of lips against Makoto's, managing to hold out a little longer than they had before.

When neither of them moved, he started to panic in his head. Was he doing it wrong? He had no idea how kissing worked because his only concern up until now had been the water. But Makoto wasn't moving, either! Could it be that he had no idea as well?

Curiously, Haruka opened his eyes to see Makoto with his eyes squeezed shut with such a look of concentration on his face that it made him laugh and he had to break the kiss.

While he giggled, Makoto looked both scandalized and amused himself, but mostly embarrassed.

"Wh-what's wrong?! Am I doing it wrong? Wh-what is so funny?! Haaaruuu~~!!"

Willing down his laughter, Haruka squeezed his friend’s – boyfriend’s? - hand and prodded him closer. "Nothing," He replied and then hugged that big hunk of easily scared man. He could feel his heart beating all the way up his throat and it was another one of these adorable little things that Makoto was made up of. "Did it feel weird, getting kissed by me?" He asked, because he didn't think that it was weird, apart from maybe both their inexperience.

"N-no, it felt good." Makoto replied timidly against his neck. "It... it was... a bit... um, how do I put this, er, I... I expected Haru to move a bit more... Though I guess I could have also moved more, right?"

"Yeah," Haruka replied, smiling a little to himself as he let his fingers thread through the short hair on the back of Makoto's head. He sighed and then pushed himself away a little. "There's... still a long way to go before having sex with us kissing like that, huh?"

"Haru! Don't say such lewd things!"

Makoto's look of heartfelt terror had the black-haired boy chuckling again.

"But that's what you came here to do, didn't you?" He said and smirked at his friend in the dimly lit bedroom. "Well, I guess we still have the rest of the night, so we can use up all that to get there, right?"

"Haruu~!" The green-eyed boy whined, looking as if he wanted to be swallowed up by the ground.

"I don't mind," Haruka said as he leaned closer, resting his head on the other's wide shoulder. "I don't mind losing sleep over doing dirty things with Makoto."

"Haru~" Makoto whined again, but only because he was being teased. It was fun teasing Makoto, Haru concluded as he threaded his fingers with Makoto's bigger ones. He didn't have the heart to tease him with scary things, although it was something he liked to do with other people - especially Nagisa, when he was being especially annoying again - because he knew how much Makoto hated scary things. But he didn't seem to hate being teased with dirty things so much, so Haruka made a mental note to tease him a lot with that in the future.

They sat like that for a while, neither moving even though Makoto seemed to get a little impatient and started fidgeting. Nevertheless it was comfortable and blue eyes slipped shut with a content hum. He knew that Makoto wanted him to say more, to do more with him, but he waited, letting Haruka set the pace, just like he always had.

"Makoto," Haruka said once more when the silence became a little too stiff.

"Hm?" came the timid reply.

Opening his mouth to form the words 'I don't want you to go,' Haruka stopped himself before he could say them because it wasn't true. He didn't want Makoto to not go and fulfill his dreams; he just didn't want Makoto to be so far away. He wanted Makoto to be happy, to do what he wanted to without Haruka holding him back and if that meant he had to go to Tokyo all alone, then so be it. There were enough ways to contact each other so they shouldn't feel lonely, but there was a feeling of regret that they had not come clean to each other earlier. That this was their first and last time together with the promise of doing intimate things like kissing. Haruka knew they both needed more practice kissing and everybody who said that these things came naturally was a fool. You didn't know how to kiss just like that. You didn't know where to put your hands or what to do with your lips and tongue, even if you had an inkling that tongues were involved in kissing despite the fact that they had never been in the kisses you shared before your first intimate ones. It made him happy that it was Makoto he shared these things with, but he was also sad that they couldn't... explore each other for a longer time.

Still, he needed to give Makoto an answer, something that wasn't 'please don't go,' but something more uplifting, something more encouraging. What did people say in these kinds of situations?

Coming to think of it, eliminating all the possibilities he shouldn't say, there was only one thing that came to his mind, which preoccupied his conscience, that he wanted to say.

"I love you." He mumbled. He knew it was too early, but then again, they had known each other for a long time and Haruka wasn't really known for beating around the bush. He didn't say much because he relied on Makoto to say the things that he wanted to say, but the things he said were efficient, down to the point, because he didn't want to lose time which he could spend swimming. Therefore, saying these three words in this kind of situation was the only thing he could do.

"Ha-Haru!" Makoto exclaimed, his fingers curling involuntarily around Haruka's and thus squeezing his hand almost uncomfortably, but instead of a protest, he just kept quiet.

As the silence stretched out - not their usual comfortable silence but a rather awkward one because Haruka expected an answer for some reason even though he knew Makoto's feelings without needing to say these words - the raven-haired boy raised his head, just to see the other's beet-red face and how he was worrying his lip.

He chuckled softly before he straightened again, squeezing Makoto's hand. "It's okay," he murmured, "Let's try kissing again, okay?"

"Y-yes!" the taller one replied, but stiffened. He was obviously very self-conscious about his kissing abilities and thought that Haruka didn't like it, but there was nobody else in the world that Haruka wanted to practice kissing more with than Makoto. Besides, Haruka wasn't so sure about his own kissing abilities, but he was sure that they could come to a better understanding together.

Thus, he all but pushed Makoto onto the bed, pulling him down towards him to try kissing him again. This time, though, he decided that they could try out whatever you did with tongues, because moisture was good. He tried slipping his tongue out between his lips, brushing against Makoto's lips, just to feel him stiffen in surprise and it felt like Makoto was as small as the tiny kitten that he played with every day and he smiled into the kiss. Makoto was Makoto and Makoto would always show his vulnerable side to him, too, no matter how hard he tried to hide from others or even himself, because he trusted Haruka with his life and Haruka would make sure that no one would ever dare to hurt him.

And so, slowly but steadily, Haruka could feel Makoto relax and instinctively he took control over the kiss, resting his hand on Makoto's cheek to keep him steady as he kissed and nibbled his lips until an involuntary sound left the taller one's lips that sounded like a mixture between a sigh and squeak.

They broke apart for air at that, both panting heavily although they hadn't really done anything exciting, staring at each other with wide eyes before their lips crashed back together, frantically, hungrily. It was as if Makoto's moan had been a sign for the two of them to throw away their self-inflicted prohibitions and as soon as they both stopped thinking, the kiss actually got better, deeper and definitely more heated.

Their tongues which at first had been shyly dancing around each other now brush against their counterparts in a battle of desperation, the smacking sounds of their lips and little grunts and moans being the only sounds in the room. At some point, Haruka had pushed Makoto back against his bed and straddled him, now he was lying on top of him as they continued kissing like they had all the time in the world when they both knew they didn't. Makoto's hair was tousled from the many times Haruka had raked his fingers through it, but the taller one had done the same thing over and over, alternating between that and hugging Haruka really close as if he was so afraid to lose him.

A little annoyed by the latter, Haruka moved from the brunet's mouth to his neck, biting down playfully which made Makoto yelp in surprise and moan deeply with something that made them both blush. Blue eyes stared down in surprise and mild worry, just to see the red covering all of Makoto's face along with a hand.

"D-Do that again." He asked, embarrassed by his own reaction, but knowing it would be futile to hide how much he had liked that and Haruka obliged with a nod. This time he could feel Makoto's legs curl up with another moan and he let his hands roam over the other's broad chest, subconsciously looking for another spot that would elicit such a reaction. He soon found it when his thumb accidentally brushed against a nipple, a hard little nub standing up readily beneath the other's thin t-shirt and he couldn't help himself and do it again, graze and tease that little nipple until Makoto was squirming almost uncomfortably beneath him.

"H-Haru!" The taller one protested, but he didn't stop him. Therefore, Haruka took this as his clue to slip his fingers under the other's shirt and while they had been kissing each other for quite a while now, he was still so nervous that his fingers felt icy compared to the other's heated skin. Every muscle seemed to jolt when his fingertips ghosted over them, Makoto's breath hitching so hard that Haruka started to be a little worried he might not be breathing properly, but the moan when he finally found his nipple and rubbed over it was worth everything.

He watched the taller one's face carefully, watched every emotion, every feeling washing over it as he touched him, as he made him feel things that nobody else had made him feel before and he knew that he was hard. There was also another hardness against his thigh, but it felt ten times as hot and at least twice as big as his own. He was a little scared to touch that, so he concentrated on his upper body for now, even if his curiosity was killing him.

"Haru~!" Makoto whined suddenly and one of his hands came to rest on his behind, squeezing tentatively. Haruka held back a moan, because it felt good, but he was so concentrated on touching that he couldn't quite appreciate getting touched. Still, he looked up curiously to be met with Makoto's eyes that were at least three shades darker and despite the tone that Makoto used that Haruka was so used to, what he saw in his eyes made him shiver in anticipation. "I want to touch you, too!"

Belatedly, Haruka realized that he had been so focused on touching Makoto that he didn't even give the other the slightest chance of touching him back. So he sat up, looking away in embarrassment before he made up his mind. He turned his gaze back to his boyfriend and nodded, saying "okay," before he pulled off his shirt with practiced ease and threw it away to be forgotten in some corner of his room. He sat and waited, giving Makoto some times to adjust to his own blossoming courage.

Sitting up himself, Makoto decided that if Haruka took off his shirt, he shouldn't be too far behind, and took off his shirt slowly, drawing out every moment. It gave Haruka time to stare at Makoto's toned abs, the taller swimmer having more of a six-pack than he did and while Haruka did not really care about these things, he had to admit that it looked good on his friend, even if his back muscles were even better than those on his stomach.

Makoto's shirt landed somewhere in the room near Haruka's shirt, but his eyes never left the smaller boy. One large hand reached out and spread out over his chest, making him suck in a breath as he realized that it was almost covering him up completely.

Unable to hold himself back, Haruka reached out and touched the hand that was touching him with both his own. "So big," He mumbled, running fingertips lightly down to the other's wrist.

"Haru," Makoto said, giggling. "That tickles."

"Hm? Oh, I'm sorry." The smaller one gave back, lifting his hands from Makoto's hand to his shoulders, kissing him again after a moment of hesitation. With all of his touching they hadn't kissed for quite a while now and Haruka realized with a pang of pain that he had missed that. He was about to pull Makoto closer, when the taller one pulled away a bit with a small chuckle.

"Haru~" Makoto whined mockingly against his lips, although he wasn't protesting but wrapping his arms around the smaller one's waist to pull him flush against his body. "I wanted to touch you, remember?"

"Hm..." Haruka gave back, but it was actually a small moan, elicited by the small spark he felt when their chests touched. Not that they hadn't hugged in their swimsuits before, but it definitely felt differently when they were doing it in private. "You're touching me right now." He gave back lazily, not intending to give up on his cozy spot in Makoto's lap now. To emphasize, he squirmed just a little, gasping when his erection rubbed against Makoto's stomach and he felt Makoto's erection against his thigh. A shiver went through them both before it turned into another of Makoto's chuckles.

"But not the way you touched me, Haru." Makoto gave back just as lazily, letting his hands run up and down the smaller one's back. The black-haired boy shivered and bit back a small moan which turned into a gasp when Makoto bit down on his neck just like he had done before. He could feel his erection jumping against the refinements of his pants and he clung tighter to his boyfriend, eyes screwed shut.

If he had known that making out with Makoto would feel so good, he would not have waited so long, no, he would have taken matters into his own hands and started this, but alas, he had never known what they had been missing out on.

Then Makoto was doing _something_ with his fingers on his spine while he found a spot on his neck that felt like he was ticklish, but it was _more_ , so much more than just being ticklish, it was like he had put him under some kind of electric shock and sent a spark down his whole body. Haruka bit his lip, because his mouth felt dry from all the gasping, but he bucked his hips forward instinctively against Makoto and he bucked his hips in response, pushing his erection further against his thigh and suddenly they both froze as if they had been hit by lightning. They realized that there was more to do than just making out with their pants on. This was their last night together in a long time despite the fact that it was also their first night together like this, so they had no reason to hold back and not go all the way.

It may have been rushed, but there were good reasons for that, too; namely finding out all the things that they had missed out on in the past 18 years.

"Strip," Haruka ordered once he had overcome his initial shock and found a course of action to pursue. Whether or not Makoto would agree on it was up to him, but Haruka was pretty sure that this was also what Makoto wanted.

"Y-yes!" Makoto replied, followed by a moment of awkward silence. "Um... I think you have to get up first..."

"Y-yeah..." Haruka noted, too, and got up, even if every of his fiber screamed reluctance. That feeling only increased as Makoto pushed his pants down his legs, still lying on Haruka's bed while the smaller boy struggled with his belt.

It wasn't so much that he was shy, no, it was just that he was both intimidated by Makoto's erection and the fact that he wasn't wearing his swimsuit underneath. He had asked Makoto to come over and hadn't expected they would go anywhere near a bath of any sort, but he had been too lazy to look for a pair of underwear - mostly because the few pairs that he still had were dirty - and thus he had not put on any after his bath earlier. He was worried that this would make Makoto think any less of him, even if he knew that Makoto probably didn't care or even think about it right now, but he was still a little self-conscious when his pants dropped to the floor and his own erection was revealed, the one that was obviously quite a bit smaller than Makoto's.

"H-Haru," Makoto stammered, because he was still wearing his underwear, and hadn't pushed it down. He sported a dark shade of red on his face, a fact that Haruka seemed to want to copy as soon as possible.

"I... I didn't have any clean underwear." The smaller boy felt the need to explain, looking awkwardly to the side. He lifted his hand to cover himself, but it was caught before he even passed his hip. Looking up in surprise he saw Makoto's gentle smile and the nervousness inside of him subsided. He smiled back as he was tugged down to sit back on the taller one's lap, not putting up any resistance.

"Haru-chan," Makoto said fondly and for some reason the familiar suffix which he had always denied had a calming effect on him right then, making him sigh as his arms wrapped around the taller one's shoulders, kissing the word off his lips. His arousal rubbed uncomfortably against Makoto's stomach and his underwear, but he didn't mind. If this wasn't Makoto's pace, they still had all the time in the world. It didn't matter that Haruka felt like the other was bursting, that he could sense how he wanted to melt into him. If his body was afraid to dive in any further, he would give him all the time he needed.

But apparently he didn't need all that much time because cold, shivering, yet oh-so-careful fingers spread down over his stomach until they hesitantly, yet determinedly, wrapped around his erection, startling him so much that Haruka let out a surprised gasp.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Makoto was quick to apologize, pulling his hand back as if he had been burned.

"No!" Haruka retaliated, maybe a little harsher than he intended to sound due to being short of breath thanks to his arousal. "No," he repeated, softer as he saw fear rising in Makoto's eyes. He lowered one hand to guide the other back down, even as his cheeks heated up uncomfortably. "It felt good," he confessed, "Do it... touch me more."

"O-okay," Makoto agreed and lowered his hand again. They felt as hesitant as before, but they still wrapped around Haruka's erection with determination, moving up and down slowly but surely. It made Haruka wonder if Makoto touched himself like that as well, if it drove him just as wild to have his thumb spread out over the head of his penis, moaning like Haruka did then and if he thought about him as he touched himself.

"Makoto," he moaned and bucked his hips into the other's hand, searching his lips to kiss him desperately as the control of his feelings slipped out of his hands and he just desperately wanted to feel good.

"Haru," the other moaned back, his own hips bucking against Haruka's frantically.

Still scared to touch that big thing in Makoto's pants, Haruka simply rubbed himself against his boyfriend, frantically, desperately, until Makoto got the clue or was desperate enough himself, either way, he freed his own erection by pulling down the hem of his boxers and put it against Haruka's, resuming to move his fist frantically over them both.

The thought that this was going to be their first time occupied Haruka's mind, but with Makoto moving his hand like that and the heat of his erection against his, he was soon unable to think about other things but the pleasure that it brought while he rutted himself against the other, clinging tightly to his neck, panting and moaning until he was hit by a strong wave of pleasure and he rode out his orgasm with Makoto squeezing and rubbing him until he came as well.

"Haru!" he choked out as warm, sticky liquid spread over their stomachs and as his hand stilled, Haruka tilted his head to spray kisses over Makoto's face, wanting to display his affection in some way.

"Makoto," he breathed and kept repeating the word over and over until his boyfriend had regained his breath and his eyes opened again. This time Haruka blushed again, not because of the cum slowly drying on their stomachs, but because of the intensity of affection in the other's eyes and he was reminded that he wouldn't be able to see these eyes for a good nine months and it hurt. It hurt so much that he had to bury his head in the crook of the other's neck to stop himself from bawling like a baby.

"Haru-chan," Makoto chuckled at that display and patted his back softly. "Haru-chan... did you feel good?"

Of course he would ask that. As if it hadn't been obvious that Haruka had just had the time of his life. He had an orgasm, for god's sake! How much more obvious could he get?

Puffing out his cheeks against Makoto's neck he smirked when the other started to squirm. To prove his point, he also bit down on the other's neck again, making him yelp in surprise.

"I guess that's a yes." Makoto chuckled and kept on petting his back. "Do you... do you want to do it... again?"

Haruka froze from where he had been putting bite marks all over the skin before him, thinking about the offer for a moment. He sat up and looked at Makoto with what could be described as his Pool Eyes, sparkling slightly and he nodded feebly.

Chuckling again, Makoto broke out into a smile before he leaned forward, rubbed their noses together and stole another kiss that Haruka gave just too willingly. They only broke the kiss to shift around so that Makoto could take off his by now dirty boxers, leaving him butt naked as well. Haruka took this moment to stare openly at his crotch, to really compare their sizes, just to realize that Makoto was really bigger than him, but now that they had already done dirty things, it didn't seem to be that scary anymore.

"Makoto," he said without thinking, "Can I... touch yours?"

Which was a pretty stupid question to ask, considering that Makoto hadn't even asked him if he could touch his erection the first time. Thus, predictably, Makoto stopped midway moving to lie on the bed next to him and just looked at him.

"... Sure?" He said, which didn't really bother Haruka because he had already wrapped his hand around Makoto's half-hard penis. He heard the other hiss, but for some reason he wanted to focus on the task at hand, literally, even. Makoto shifted a bit more until he was comfortable in the cushions and Haruka curled up next to him, tucked tightly against his side while he reached down the length of his torso. He watched closely and in awe how Makoto's penis seemed to grow in his hand, twitched every once in a while with a certain touch from him and grew darker in color the hotter it got.

The smaller boy let out a small breath which could also have been an awestruck sigh, but then Makoto _moaned_ , so deeply that Haruka jerked a little in surprise, his head whipping around to stare at the other's face.

Makoto's face was red all over again and he had lifted his free hand to cover his eyes, although Haruka could tell that he wanted to watch more than anything. His eyes were screwed shut but his mouth was hanging open slightly, while his chest rose and fell with his hitched breaths.

"Makoto," Haruka said calmly, waiting a heartbeat until Makoto replied with a strained, "Huh?"

"Relax," he asked, squeezing in reassurance. He wouldn't do anything to hurt the other or annoy him in any way, but sometimes Makoto had to be reminded of that fact.

"Y-yeah," Makoto replied, albeit still strained, but he took a deep breath and you could basically hear his muscles relax. Haruka smiled and rewarded the other with a small squeeze in hopes that it would convey his feelings, too.

And then he continued in earnest.

He moved his hand up and down the hard staff, teasing where he could although he felt a little frustrated that it looked so much more _clumsier_ than to what he had imagined it look like, but Makoto was tensing and untensing next to him, shivering every now and then and he was _moaning_ , too. And not just any kind of moans, but moans that turned Haruka's ears the brightest shade of red imaginable and he marveled in the fact that this was all his doing; that it was his clumsy hand on Makoto's erection that made him moan and squirm so much. And that, at the end of the day, was all that he needed.

By the time Makoto cried out his name as he came again, Haruka was already painfully hard again himself, even though neither of them had made a move to touch him in any way. He tried to ignore it, but as soon as Makoto blinked his droopy eyes open again, he reached for him in return, reciprocating the black-haired teen's movements.

Haruka couldn't help himself; he moaned and screwed his eyes shut, panting as he closed in on his peak again and then he had to cling to cling to Makoto because he feared getting washed away by the wave of pleasure.

In the aftermath, they lay there, trying to catch their breaths and feeling extraordinarily wonderful and light.

"Haru-chan,” Makoto was the first to regain enough breath to speak. "Haru... I... I've always loved you, too."

Despite himself, Haruka broke out into a smile and he leaned up to kiss his boyfriend, feeling that fluttery feeling of fish swimming around excitedly in the pit of his stomach that others would maybe describe as butterflies.

As they broke apart, the only appropriate answer he could think of was: "I know," before he slipped an arm and a leg around the taller boy and hugged him close, never wanting to let go.

But the day to let go would come in the morning, so they fell in and out of sleep with the need to touch the other, to feel him close as a reminder that he was there, that this wasn't a dream and that there would be more times like this in the future.

Haruka didn't even say goodbye to Makoto at the bus station when he finally had to leave for Tokyo. He didn't even go there, because everything that needed to be said and done had been done at his house and he didn't want to carry another painful memory around with him.

New Year’s couldn't come soon enough.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makoto tries to cope with life alone and has an encounter with a cat and a girl.

Life at university was hard. 

Life in Tokyo was even harder. 

But what was the worst was life without Haru.

Makoto sighed as he took the plastic bag from the counter of the convenience store and made his way back to the dormitory, where he would shovel the bento inside into his mouth, think of nothing and then try to weed his way through his homework.

Above all it was exceptionally hard to live in the city when it was summer and all he wanted to do was to jump into a pool to cool down, but unfortunately he didn't have time to do that. He would take cold showers every night and every morning in hopes that he would be able to sleep, but he would just toss around until he felt like he was slowly simmering in his own sweat. Opening a window didn't help either as there would be no breeze coming over from the ocean and, in addition to that, it was unbearably loud on the streets at night.

Makoto missed Iwatobi; the breeze coming in from the ocean even in a summer heat like this. He missed it with all of his heart, but he knew that this was for the better. Here - alone - he would be able to concentrate on his studies better than with Haru around. Because as things were, simply the memory of his - he almost didn't dare to think it - boyfriend was already distraction enough. 

He couldn't help but think back to the day just before he had left for Tokyo, the night that had been so full of everything that he had dreamt of for so long and the acceptance and love that he had felt from Haru's side. It hadn't been easy for him, talking about his deepest, darkest feelings, the ones which he had carried around with him for the past five or more years. He had honestly feared that Haru would be disgusted with him, that he would push him away. Makoto had never thought about the fact that Haru could accept his selfish request _or_ be even more than open to reciprocating his feelings. He hadn’t thought that there would ever be a way for him to be accepted, for that monster inside of him that he feared to be welcomed so easily.

Although, there were things that he wanted to do but that he was still scared to do. It had been nice touching the other, but for some reason he had felt as if something was missing, as if there was so much more to explore. Thankfully his dormitory had Wi-Fi which meant that he didn't have to go to the library to research about these things when he wanted to know how love between two men actually worked.

Not that he had time to do so.

Upon his arrival in Tokyo, Makoto's days had been filled with homework, social gatherings and the search for a part-time job, since he didn't want his parents to pay everything for him. He ended up with a job for a parcel company on Saturdays and Sundays where he had to carry lots of heavy boxes, but that was something he was good at and he was able to shut off his brain for a while, which was also a good thing once in a while. That way he didn't stress about his studies or his friends, especially Haruka, even though he wondered what the hell he was doing.

Not that trying to get in touch with him was ever a fruitful endeavor.

Of course, Makoto had tried calling Haruka, every day at first, but after the first ten times that Haruka failed to respond he just shrugged it off. Eventually he decided to put faith into the fact that they would see each other again around Christmas, since Makoto planned to be working during the summer holidays to save enough money for the rest of the year, mostly for his expenses to go back home during winter.

Meanwhile, there was enough for him to do.

There were a few cats he passed by every day he went to his lectures, usually at the same point, and while Tokyo's cats were a lot fiercer than his sweetheart at home - the cats in the city in general were quite different from the ones he was used to. But in the end, they were all cats after all and he just knew how to handle them. They eventually warmed up to him as he started sharing his mackerel sushi with them. Soon enough they would follow him even when he was in a hurry, begging him for attention and food and Makoto being Makoto he hardly refused them although sometimes it was only a quick pat on the head.

One of the cats reminded him remarkably of his boyfriend, having a dark grey fur and stunning blue eyes that befitted no street cat, so he dubbed him Haru, just to feel a little less homesick. Haru became closest to him over the weeks and soon he would follow him back to his dormitory, begging to be let inside. But since the dorm allowed no pets whatsoever - not even electronic ones! - he had to apologize over and over at the entrance before he had to leave him outside to feel better about it. Not that the cat seemed to care one bit.

He also befriended a handful of people. Half of them were living in the dorms with him, and since the rooms were so tiny and they shared showers and a rather small community room, Makoto just wanted to get along with everybody on his floor. But as things were, some people were not as social as he was, so he just let them be. Others were even more outgoing than him and invited him to a lot of parties, telling him that he would be so popular with the girls there because he looked good and was tall and muscular.

Makoto could care less about that, so he smiled and hid the fact that he already had somebody at home who was waiting for him. The main reason for that was because he had listened to previous conversations from everybody, teasing other guys about being gay when they clearly weren't, just to smite them. He also heard them tease another guy, telling him how a long-distance relationship would never work since love was a fickle thing and since he was young he should just have lots of fun while he was still able to.

He had felt pretty lost then, terribly naive and started wondering if he could trust Haruka to be faithful to him or if he could withstand any and all temptations in the big city. His imagination derailed towards ideas that he did not like and as he started imagining him being whipped by some dominatrix, he shook his head and pushed those thoughts out of his mind, but vowed not to tell anybody about Haruka, about his love at home.

Unfortunately, this meant that he had to attend some of those parties because apparently, "I have to study" or "I have to work tomorrow" were no valid reasons to stay at home every weekend. He tried his best not to care about anyone too much and hoped that they didn't care too much about him and for most of them it worked, which was a relief.

One of the people who cared was a girl from his Japanese class, who happened to be living next to his dormitory room. They seemed to be running into each other everywhere and anywhere and he once saw her slipping some mackerel to Haruka the cat as he was waiting outside for him to feed him.

"Hey." Makoto said softly, announcing his presence and hoping not to startle her too much, but she jumped up to her feet and almost fell back over. Worried, he reached out to her and caught her arm, which turned her momentum around and she fell right back forward, towards him, landing face first against his chest.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" Makoto said quickly as he was sure she was able to stand on her own two feet again. He backed up a little just to find her all red in the face, which in turn made him blush as well. "Sorry! I didn't mean to, um, I mean, I just wanted to feed Haru and you were just... feeding him, so I didn't want to startle you-"

"Haru?" the girl asked and her shoulders jerked slightly.

"Uh, yeah, that's... what I named the cat..." Makoto explained, frowning a little as her shoulders twitched again. "...Why?"

Looking up, he saw the girl had deep lilac eyes, matching her long jet-black hair perfectly and she was trying to hold back a laugh. "If that wasn't a boy, I could have imagined you had named the cat after me."

"Huh?"

"My name is Haruka Keioh, but my friends call me Haru. Nice to meet you." she said and bowed a little. "So, tell me. Since you're obviously responsible for getting the cat here, why did you give him a girl's name?"

"Ah! Um, about that, I... Oh! My name is Makoto Tachibana. Nice to meet you," Makoto replied instead, figuring it would be easier to explain if she knew his name. Haruka frowned and tilted her head a bit to the side as if prompting him to go on. "It's... a girlish name, I know, that's why the cat has... a name like that?"

That reasoning was really weak, but he hoped it would work.

"'Makoto'? It's not really a girlish name, I think." Haruka gave back. "Although, most Makoto’s I know were girls, but they were never really all that girly, so it's not as bad as you think it is? At least that's what I think."

Makoto listened to her talk and realized that she must have been from Tokyo, or any other big city, because he knew that people from big cities saw things differently than people from the countryside like he did. He chuckled softly and then smiled at her and he could have sworn he saw her blush again.

"Well then, if I told you about my friends Nagisa, Haruka, Rei, Rin and Gou, what would you say to that?"

"...are they all boys?" Haruka asked tentatively, tapping her lower lip with her index finger. "I mean, I'm pretty sure about Gou and Rin and Haruka, since you named the boy cat Haruka, but the other two..."

"Hahaha, almost. Gou is a girl and she prefers being called Kou but everybody else are boys-"

"Ah! Could it be!?" she said suddenly, recognition spreading over her face.

"Huh?! What?!" Makoto asked, startled and scared by her sudden outburst.

"Are you those underdog medley relay swimmers from the Tottori regionals who got this amazing time but had to be disqualified in the end because they used a swimmer from another school?! I heard they all had girly names, but were really strong!" Haruka gushed all over him.

Makoto chuckled in embarrassment, scratching his index finger lightly against his cheek. "That was two years ago..."

"So it really was you?! That's amazing! I happened to be there that day, I was swimming breast the previous day and we stayed to watch the boys' relay because our school participated in that, too! Ah, it's too bad you guys got disqualified. It was such a great sight to see!" Haruka rambled on, making Makoto's smile and blush spread further over his face.

"It didn't matter then... We weren't swimming for a trophy then, you know?" he explained, still holding no regrets about that time.

"Eh? You weren’t? Then why would you enter a tournament?!" Haruka asked, looking appalled. "I mean, you could just swim on your own then, right? Why enter a tournament if you didn't want to win?"

"Um, that was mostly because we were such a small club at our school and trophies meant more budget which we could use to swim in a pool during winter..." Makoto explained with another sheepish chuckle, realizing that winning never mattered for the cause of winning. "But, as you see, swimming competitively is something entirely different than just swimming to improve your time or swimming just for fun. It's hard to explain if you haven't experienced it yourself, but it's... a sight you don't see just like that."

Haruka looked at him, eyes wide, incredulous, just before she started giggling. "Tachibana-kun, that's quite the romantic thing to say," she explained between bouts of giggles and a beaming smile.

Makoto couldn't help but blush at her cheerful personality, the way she didn't find his words ridiculous, but just a little funny. He didn't think that romantic was a bad thing, but still he wanted to say that it wasn't his way of expressing the things he just said but Rin's, who was such a hopeless romantic that it was ridiculous sometimes.

"Ah... it is, isn't it?" he admitted, chuckling himself as his memories went back to his last year in elementary school where Rin had kept bugging them - mostly Haruka - to swim with them because he wanted to show them a sight they hadn't seen before. "I guess I'm quite the romantic guy then, hahaha."

He meant to say it as a joke, but even Haru the cat looked up at him with a judging look while Haruka turned a deep dark shade of red. When he belatedly realized that he had been full-out flirting with her and that this could easily have been a clumsy attempt to hit on her, he turned almost the same shade of red. He cursed himself for that, because he hadn't wanted to flirt with anybody, ever, in his whole life.

"Ah! I didn't mean it like that! It's just... um..." Makoto flustered, not knowing what to say.

"W-would you be interested... um, I cooked too much... if you want to you... you could come over and we could eat together..." Haruka trailed off and Makoto heaved a deep sigh, actually glad that he had been to the convenience store before.

"I already ate, so I'm sorry to decline, but no." He replied, smile turning apologetic.

"T-Then, maybe tomorrow?" Haruka tried again and then Makoto remembered something.

"Ah!" he exclaimed, his face losing all of its color at once. "I'm sorry, Haruka-chan, but tomorrow is not possible either. I'm sorry I have to go right now, too. Thank you for taking care of Haru for me! Bye!"

"Huh?" Haruka replied, bewildered as Makoto left her behind. "What's... going on?"

~*~

The dormitory rooms were tiny with just enough space for a bed and a desk, but at least he was living alone and didn't have to bother about a roommate. This came in handy now that Makoto hurried back to his room, having almost forgotten what day it was over all of his homework and studies.

Tomorrow was his boyfriend's birthday and he had nothing prepared.

Well, that wasn't exactly right. He already had a perfect idea what he wanted to give his boyfriend as a present, it was just for the fact that he hadn't prepared anything yet that was bad. Thus, he sat down in front of his laptop, trying to find everything he needed at an online shop that would send things over night or at least within 24 hours so that Haru would get his present until the next night. He managed to get what he wanted, wrote a note for Haru to keep an eye on his phone later that day and then he leaned back into the chair, suddenly feeling exhausted.

Tiredly, he succeeded in dragging himself to bed before he fell asleep in his chair, even if he hadn't managed to change his clothes. His last thought before falling asleep was that he had to apologize to Haruka-chan later for leaving so suddenly and being rude.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens. ...What plot? OTL


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haru gets lost in his thoughts and the bathtub, but doesn't want to be bothered by it. He also misses Makoto. A lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haru does not have control over his hands.

April was the worst for Haru. He didn't feel like moving, he just sat in his bathtub all day long until he realized that he had run out of mackerel and needed to go and buy some.

May was also bad, but at least he could go and swim freely in the ocean or Iwatobi High School's pool because both Captain Nagisa and Amakata-sensei allowed him to use it at any time. He had gotten a key with a little orca pendant from them. 'Why an orca?' he had asked and received only knowing glances. He sighed and thanked them for their generosity and proceeded to carry the key around with him close to his body at all times. Be it for the reassurance that he could go to the pool whenever he wanted to or for the orca that was a reminder for where most of his thoughts would go, he didn't know, but its weight felt reassuring anyway.

By the beginning of June he realized that he should probably get a job so that he could pay for his food and other expenses. So he reluctantly went out and to the nearest convenience store, asking if they had some vacancy. The clerk at the counter just looked at him, pitifully, and handed him a card with an address, telling him to send his resume there. Haru thanked him, put the card in his pocket and promptly forgot about it.

Instead, he went down to the harbor and asked the fishermen if they needed some help. He was by no means as good as Makoto with manual labor, but contrary to the taller one, he didn't mind having to deal with dead animals and while he knew that the job would be dirty, he also knew that he would be able to soak in his bath after work to get rid of the smell. Not that he minded it much, but everybody else seemed to mind it, so he didn't want to smell bad. Also, the water always smelled better than anything so he just wanted to smell like water.

After asking about four of the men down at the harbor maintaining the nets they used to catch fish out at the ocean, he finally found one who was willing to have him tidy up things for him in the mornings and give him a few thousand yen per week for that. He thanked him and asked if he could start right then but was told to wait until the next morning and to show up around 6am.

Haru nodded and promised to be right on time; even if it meant that he may have to skip his morning bath, though it probably didn't matter.

The job was harder than he had thought. There were so many things that had to be coordinated and since Haru knew near to nothing about professional fishing he had to be told every little thing. He made an effort to do it right almost at once because he felt like it was a pain in the ass to be told the same thing over and over which only slowed down the process.

Thus, when he came back the next day, he was already much faster and by the end of the week there was almost no more difference between him and the old fishermen. Needless to say, the man was extraordinarily pleased with him as he handed him his money, asking if he wanted to come out and go fishing with him the following week.

Haru considered his offer seriously for a while, but then he remembered that both Rin and Makoto had suffered from a trauma of fishermen going out on the ocean, so he shook his head and declined. He endured the teasing of whether or not he was afraid of the ocean wordlessly, thanking the fisherman again for letting him work there and went home to put the money in his savings.

He took a long bath then, not just soaking in lukewarm water but heating up the water with soap, soaking his sweaty skin to get rid of every smell that wasn't water.

His head lolled back and to the side until he looked at the dolphin toy that floated in the bath water, wondering if he should look for an accompanying orca just so that it wouldn't feel lonely. It was enough that he felt extremely lonely himself.

"Makoto," he breathed and closed his eyes, recalling the other's face in detail; his smile, the upward shaped eyebrows that always looked like the Japanese eight. His gentle green eyes that were always looking at him, searching him just like Haru's blue eyes always sought out Makoto's. He recalled his gentle hands, large and so much bigger than his, making it easy for him to paddle through the water. 

Sinking deeper into the water until only his nose was peeking out above the surface, he traced invisible lines down his torso, the broad chest, the well-toned stomach muscles, his long legs and he once again thought it was ridiculous how a little, frail-looking boy like the Makoto he had gotten to know before kindergarten managed to grow up into such a beast of a man. Yet he never lost that air of innocence and Haru still felt the urge to protect him whenever he saw the smallest sliver of fear in those green eyes.

"Makoto," he sighed out, bubbles forming on the surface of the water. He opened his eyes but didn't lose the image of Makoto running through his head. Instead, his mind wandered further, returning to the night before he left for Tokyo. Haru closed his eyes again, remembering how Makoto looked naked, aroused and flushed. It was so incredibly sexy that his breath hitched just thinking about it.

He craved to touch the other, craved to be touched by him and before he had even noticed it he had wrapped his hand around his throbbing erection in the water, imagining it was Makoto's hand, imagining it was him touching Makoto instead of himself. His breath quickened and hitched and he moaned as his head lolled back out of the water that was wrapped around him like a safety blanket. He realized for the first time in three months that he missed Makoto more than he had missed the water when he didn't allow himself to swim back in middle school. 

Ever since he and Rin had cleared up things between them, he didn't undress at the sight of _every_ body of water but rather only a few select ones. He had figured out that he had been making up for the times that he hadn't been swimming properly then. Even without Makoto holding him back now, he hadn't been prone to indecent behavior, mostly because he didn't go out as much but also because he didn't feel the need to jump into the water like that.

Bringing his second hand down to touch himself, Haru realized that this was also due to the fact that he missed Makoto, that he missed being held back by him, that he missed testing his boundaries with his friend. Without him, it was useless. It wasn't fun to do all these things without Makoto.

Haru sighed again, recalling Makoto's face as he came; the half-open mouth, the expression of surprise and ecstasy on his face and with a shudder he felt himself cum, white beads of thick liquid soiling the bath water. He panted, the memory Makoto's face still lingering as he came down from his high but was quickly replaced by what was in front of his eyes.

He crinkled his eyes as he realized that he had soiled the water, dirtied the thing second most precious to him.

Again.

The water must be angry at him for his thoughtless behavior. He was glad that he had turned down the offer to go fishing out on the ocean, knowing that this wasn't going to go well.

He got out of the water eventually, sitting down on his bed with his hair still damp. The smell of fish was still hanging around him, but he didn't mind. In fact, after a week of hard labor it started to blend in with all other odors around him and he didn't notice it anymore.

He wondered what he should be doing now. Haru knew that he couldn't be sitting around in his house all the time. He should go out, find a proper job maybe, meet with friends. When his phone vibrated, he picked up his phone to find that it was Makoto calling him. _Again_.

Turning his head back to continue staring at nothing in front of him, Haru ignored the call. _Again_.

What sense did it make to talk to Makoto on the phone when all Haru craved was his presence? It would just be a poor substitute for the real thing that left him with more pain than he was already in, so he preferred to not be talking to his boyfriend when he couldn't be near him. It was just too much of a hassle

The phone stopped buzzing and Haru sighed with a mixture of relief and sadness. During April the phone would ring several times after the first try, but they were getting scarce now. As if Makoto had caught onto the fact that he wouldn't be answering the phone anyway. If something bad had happened, he would probably know with little to no hold-up by Ren and Ran running up to his house to tell him.

After about an hour of musing over probably causes of death for Makoto, Haru decided to get up and go for a swim in Iwatobi High School's pool. Maybe Nagisa would know something distracting.

~*~

That was how Haru's life descended. It was comfortable, he didn't have to do much and during summer he even joined Iwatobi's swimming club in their annual training regimen from hell. Mostly to take care that nobody drowned or got themselves in danger. There were quite a few now, some of them having joined as first years that were now second years. Most of them were quite young, though; younger than Rei when he had joined. And some of them were as hot-blooded as Rin or Rei were, so it was good to have somebody watching over them and taking care that nobody did anything stupid like swimming out alone at night.

It was one of these nights when he sat around a campfire with Nagisa, Rei and Kou, keeping watch and talking about anything else but those swim club activities with the kids who had returned to their rooms for the night.

Nagisa had been through a growth spurt and was already taller than Haru himself which made it easier for him to actually stand out as the captain of the club. His face was still a bit on the round side, but when he got all serious, he would remind Haru of Makoto because he knew that the blond cared just as much about his friends as his boyfriend did.

"Everybody, I... I have a confession to make." Nagisa said then, speaking up from a momentary silence after they had shared all their idle stories from before. Naturally, they all looked up at him, wanting to know what was so important.

"You guys may or may not know it, but my parents own a hotel chain. They have hotels all over Japan and... despite the fact that I'm the youngest, I'm the one who's going to take over the business one day." He said, sounding a little nervous about that fact. He fidgeted where he was seated, shying glances upwards at everybody.

"Congratulations, Nagisa-kun. That's sounds like a beautiful idea." Rei commented, pushing up his glasses a bit.

"Thanks, Rei-chan. But... you see, I could start right now. I don't really have to finish school or study because I know everything about the business already, but..."

"It wouldn't be proper to have a school dropout lead a nationwide operation such as that one." Rei finished, nodding a little.

"Basically." Nagisa sighed, leaning back and forth to a tune in his head.

Haru watched the blond closely. He wondered why he was telling them about this now, just to catch Nagisa's gaze flicker towards him with an apology on his lip. Slowly, his eyebrows rose, mostly in surprise but also understanding. But before he could say anything, Kou spoke up.

"So? What does this have to do with us?" She asked. Curious, mostly, but also a tad bit annoyed.

"Well, I kinda don't want to leave you guys, but as the future leader of something so big I will have to go to a big university which will be far, far away from Iwatobi. I also know that Rei-chan has been planning to get into Tokyo University all his life, so he'll be leaving as well. With Mako-chan in Tokyo and Rin-chan back in Australia, training for the upcoming Olympics and world championships, I'm... a little sad that we will all have to say goodbye next year. This will be the last summer that we will spend together... well, not all of us, but most. It... It makes me really sad." Nagisa concluded with a face matching his words as he looked down at his hands solemnly.

Haru watched him closely, feeling a familiar pang of pain in his chest, even though it was really dull now.

"But... you will come back for New Year's, right?" He said calmly, more of a statement than an actual question, but a question nevertheless.

"Yes!" Nagisa answered promptly, full of determination that made a smile tug at the corners of Haru's lips. "Yes, of course I will come back!"

There was a message ringing in the blond's voice, telling Haru that he would come back for him, that Nagisa wanted to swim with him again and that nothing in the world would be able to stop him from coming back to Iwatobi so that he could swim with Haru, Makoto, Rei and Rin again.

"Well then, that's what you have to do. Study hard and come back on New Year's so that we can all see the first sunrise together." Haru nodded, the smile finally finding its way on his lips.

"Haruka-senpai..." Now Rei's eyes were also on him and while he looked at him with only surprise, Kou's eyes were full of pity.

"Haruka-senpai, you know, I never understood why you didn't plan on studying yourself." She pointed out, the pity turning into puzzlement as her eyes studied him closely.

"Too much effort," Haru commented with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Yeah, but you could have easily followed Makoto. Your parents live in Tokyo, right? Why not visit them and a few universities? Maybe one of them have topics that you'd want to take." She suggested and opened her mouth to say more, just to be interrupted by Rei.

"Speaking of which, Nagisa-kun, what topics do you plan on taking?" He asked, hiding half of his face with his hand that pushed up his glasses once more.

"Huh? Why'd you ask?" Nagisa replied, taken a bit off guard. "Oh! I know! You want to take the same courses as me. That's it, isn't it?"

"What?! N-no, not really…I was thinking of taking up accounting, b-because you know, it's…it's something I'm good at!" Rei protested, maybe a little too quickly and loudly.

"Huh? Really? Well then, I don't know which topics to pick. In fact, all I have to do is to get into a prestigious university and then I can do whatever I want. I'll probably take the easiest courses to graduate in the shortest amount of time," Nagisa explained, sounding like he had already made up his mind, regardless of what anybody else was going to tell him. "I want to come back here as soon as I can and work at one of the hotels! Ah! Rei-chan!"

"What now, Nagisa-kun?" The bespectacled boy asked, pushing his red frames further into his face in a motion of annoyance.

"I'd love to have you working with me! Wouldn't it be cool if you were the head accountant, taking care of Iwatobi's grand hotel with me? Oh! And Haru-chan, I'll promise I'll have them put a big pool inside, too, so you can swim whenever you want! Maybe I'll even have an aquarium with fishes and penguins and dolphins! Wouldn't dolphins and sharks be cool in a hotel's aquarium? Huh?"

"Nagisa," Haru said firmly before the blond could go on. "Don't you dare think of putting big animals or fishes into a hotel's aquarium. It will not be big enough. They can only swim freely in the ocean."

"I agree." Rei nodded. "It's not beautiful to see such amazing creatures crammed together in a tiny aquarium. And no matter how big, it will never be comparable to the wide open ocean."

"Heeeh? But that's not fun! I wanted us to swim together again! All of us!"

"What has an aquarium to do with you guys swimming?" Kou asked, growing more and more confused by the boys' talking.

"Everything!" Nagisa all but cheered, his eyes shining with glee as he turned to the girl. "You see, Haru-chan is like a dolphin, Mako-chan is powerful like an orca, Rin-chan's a shark, you know, because of his teeth! I'm a cute penguin and Rei-chan is a butterfly, because he likes them and he's as beautiful as one!"

"But a butterfly isn't a sea creature. I'm pretty sure they will die when they touch the water." Kou pointed out with a frown.

"Mhmh! That's because he used to sink like a stone, too!" Nagisa explained, earning himself a heated glare from his classmate.

"Well, at least he can swim now." Kou sighed and rested her head against her shoulder.

"Nagisa," Haru suddenly spoke up in his usual calm tone, but not failing to catch everybody's attention. "If you want us all to swim together again, a pool is fine. No need for an aquarium." He stopped talking, hesitating, but there was more that he wanted to say. He wanted to say that they could all meet up for New Year’s and make it a tradition. Normally Makoto would have suggested such a thing, saying everything that he didn't want to say or couldn't express. But his childhood friend was missing and he cast his look down, worried his lower lip with a frown before he sighed and continued, if only just in a murmur: "We could... we could meet up around New Year’s..."

"Ooooh! I like that idea!" Nagisa boasted after a moment's hesitation. "We could organize little New Year's tournaments in the hotel's pool! All for charity, too!"

"That's... that's brilliant!" Rei nodded in agreement. "We could use Rin-san's popularity to draw in participants, too!"

"Yes! And Gou-chan's in charge of organizing the whole event! Wouldn't that be great? Ne, Haru-chan?"

The black-haired boy only grunted in response, wondering how this had managed to move from everybody swimming just for fun to being a blown-out of proportion charity event. But alas, if only they could just swim together again, everything would be fine.

They kept on planning what they wanted to do for ‘Iwatobi's Annual New Year’s Swimming Tournament’ until they were so tired that they had to drag each other back to the lodge they resided in. The second day of the training regimen happened normally without anything mentionable happening.


End file.
